


play with it like children

by madnessiseverything



Series: tales of narnia [4]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: Family Feels, Gen, Light Angst, Makeup, Memories, Post-Narnia, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26565745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madnessiseverything/pseuds/madnessiseverything
Summary: The lipstick in her hand isn’t red. It isn’t the one Susan usually wears, nor the one she intended to pick up when she sat down in front of her vanity. But here she is, staring at the orange colour with wet eyes. She can’t make her hands put it down, not when her mind is whirling with memories of colour so alike this one.or the one where Susan is caught up in memories and lets her siblings wear her makeup.
Relationships: Edmund Pevensie & Lucy Pevensie & Peter Pevensie & Susan Pevensie
Series: tales of narnia [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2039454
Comments: 10
Kudos: 77





	play with it like children

**Author's Note:**

> okay, so this is something that's been in my drafts for a wee bit now. it's definitely one of my favourite things that i've written recently, so i hope you enjoy it as much as i did <3

The lipstick in her hand isn’t red. It isn’t the one Susan usually wears, nor the one she intended to pick up when she sat down in front of her vanity. But here she is, staring at the orange colour with wet eyes. She can’t make her hands put it down, not when her mind is whirling with memories of colour so alike this one. 

Lucy enters the room with a gentle knock. Susan doesn’t turn around but finds her eyes in the mirror. There is a lump in her throat when she nods. The door clicks shut behind the younger girl. 

They don’t speak as Lucy settles down next to Susan. Her sister sweeps curious eyes across the make-up scattered in front of them. Lucy folds her feet under her, her knees digging into Susan’s thigh. The two girls sit in silent company. Susan can feel that Lucy knows exactly what happened to make her this way. Her fingers tighten around the lipstick.

With a slow exhale, Susan raises her hand and starts applying it under Lucy’s watchful gaze. There is a soft smile on her face like she sees something more than what Susan shows this world. Susan doesn’t doubt that she does. Then Lucy picks up a small tub and twists it in the light with joy. Susan isn’t surprised that she found that particular one, that Lucy stares at it with those shining eyes. Susan bought it for the very same reason, after all.

Wordlessly, Susan plucks the tub from Lucy’s fingers and opens it for her. Lucy’s smile is blinding as she wraps one arm around Susan in a quick hug before carefully putting the small container down in front of her. The way she starts chewing on her lips, Susan knows Lucy is thinking, hesitant to move ahead with the impulse that made her pick it up.

Two curious heads peek into their room, Susan just glimpses them in the mirror. Perhaps they recognise the odd air that’s started building up in the girls’ room because their brothers enter without a word. Edmund closes the door. Peter tucks his chin over Lucy’s head. 

The brothers watch as Susan wipes her thumb underneath her lips, removing remnants of lipstick where she doesn’t want it. Lucy dips two careful fingers into silver glitter and draws them diagonally across her face. She gives her reflection a satisfied nod and grin before dragging her fingers the opposite way. Edmund lets out a soft noise, halfway between sounding wounded and excited. With a glance at Susan, he picks up the brow pencil laying off to the right. She gives him a watery smile, as much of a go-ahead as she can manage with the tension in the room sealing her throat shut. 

Peter’s eyes follow their brother’s movement as Edmund pokes his head over Susan’s shoulder. Susan keeps their older brother in her peripheral as she watches Edmund draw uneven lines from his eyes down his cheeks. Edmund is focused, brows furrowed. Lucy, still quiet, presses closer to Susan.

Edmund puts the pen down and purses his lips at his reflection. There is satisfaction, his shoulders straighter than they were. Susan’s heart leaps. Her younger siblings look like themselves again. She smiles as Lucy and Edmund admire their handiwork side by side, heads pushed together and close to the mirror.

And then they look at Peter, who is staring at their reflections with unshed tears and a clenched jaw. He blinks rapidly and clears his throat, the sound too loud in the silence they’ve shared thus far. Susan decides for him. She gets up and places her hands on his shoulders, guides him to sit down where she was. Lucy gives him a bright smile and focuses back onto the mirror. Susan doesn’t have to ponder her collection, knowing right away what she will do, and tilts Peter’s head up. He looks at her with despair, hope and that particular brand of trust that makes Susan’s chest constrict. Then he nods and closes his eyes. 

As Susan works, Edmund leans over and lets Lucy tap glitter-covered fingers onto his black lines. The tension in Peter’s body gradually leaves, and Susan’s hands grow steadier. The air starts to feel less like it’s pressing in on them, and more like something they could embrace. Edmund, sitting on the floor so that Lucy can reach his face, starts humming. Almost immediately, Lucy joins him in the melody. Peter smiles, tapping his fingers softly on Susan’s vanity. Susan finds herself smiling as well, with unsung words at the tip of her tongue. 

When she steps back, Lucy lets out an excited noise, and Edmund grins brighter than he has in recent memory. Susan presses her lips together as she waits for Peter’s reaction. Nobody in this horrid world would approve of the bright red adorning his eyes, she muses and immediately shakes herself out of it. They would spare harsh judgement for Edmund, as the black streaks shimmer with his every move. Lucy’s display is very unbecoming. None of it matters. She won’t let it matter.

The previously unshed tears roll down her brother’s face as Peter smiles at his reflection. Neither of his siblings is surprised, their own emotions brimming just under the surface. Lucy tucks herself into Peter’s side. Edmund wraps an arm around Susan and knocks his head gently against Peter’s. Susan brushes stray hair away from Lucy’s face. Together, they look at their reflections, jaws set in determination. 

And for but a moment, Susan sees them as they should be. Lucy, with her hair undone and pink sand sparkling where it is streaked across her face as she laughs. Edmund, with a triumphant smile and fine black lines making his eyes gleam as he clasps his hands behind his back. Peter, with a harsh red streak pulled across his eyes on the dawn of battle, drips of paint running down his cheeks. Susan, with Narnian gold on her lips and her smile victorious in the face of their enemies’ losses. 

The vision fades and leaves them behind in a world that doesn’t allow them the warpaint anymore. There is a red smear on Susan’s jaw. Lucy has left glittery fingerprints on Peter’s shirt, Edmund’s charcoal has stained Lucy’s hand. Peter’s tears haven’t dried, and Susan’s grip on her siblings grows tighter.

There is no battle to wage; no people that let them wear it with pride. There are no ambassadors testing Susan’s smiles for weak points, no country to draw breaths through Lucy’s laughter. There is no court that would accept them in this form. 

Instead, all they have is this, four children playing with colours that will be washed away before the hour is done. Susan presses an orange kiss to each of their faces, desperate to keep her hold on those she loves. England tries so hard to pry them from her grasp. But just as she won’t think of what this world would make of their warpaint, she refuses to linger on the fear of the waves washing her family away. For now, she allows herself to breathe. 

**Author's Note:**

> i have... many emotions about the pevensies. feel free to drop by my [narnia tumblr](https://bloodybigwardrobe.tumblr.com/) to talk to me :D


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